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Uber and Careem to merge in Middle East, Bloomberg’s report

Uber and Careem are holding talks over a possible merger of businesses in the Middle East.

Another popular merger is on the way, as Uber the popular ride-hailing service throughout the world, is in initial talks for a possible merger with Middle Eastern ride-hailing service Careem (a home-grown venture with some of its technologies developed in Pakistan.

According to the Bloomberg’s report, both rival taxi-hailing companies Uber and Careem are in negotiations to merge with each other in a closed deal to work together in the Middle East market.

Not to know, the companies have held a number of secret deal structures however, nothing comes to a concluding decesion.

Some people familiar with the matter said that Uber desires to own more than half of the joint company, if not acquire Careem completely. However, a spokesman for Uber declined to comment about the deal.

Maha Abouelenein, a spokeswoman at Careem, declined to comment on the talks but in a statement he declared that the company is “only getting started” on its expansion plans.

He further added:

“Our ambition is to build a lasting institution for the region and that means focusing on growth into new markets and doubling down on our existing cities to open our platform up to new products and services. We are only getting started.”

Well, in case the rumours turn out true, Uber will have the chance to stay as the definite champion in the ride-hailing services world. Uber, which is beaten badly by Didi Chuxing in China, got also a stake in that company. On interesting note, Didi is also an investor in Careem. At times Didi was considered a very strong rival of Uber.

Careem, a local favourite, is currently in talks with investors to raise $500 million, potentially valuing the Dubai-based ride-hailing company at about $1.5 billion. On the other hand, Uber recently ended two costly regional rivalries, by merging its Russian operations with Yandex.Taxi last year, and selling its Southeast Asia operations in exchange for a stake in Singapore-based Grab in March.

Uber is backing off from the competition in the Asian region as reports emerge that Uber and Careem are combining their services in the Middle East. Just a few months ago, the world’s biggest ride-hailing service, sold its Southeast Asian business to the Singapore-based rival Grab.

Uber’s CEO, after the deal with Grab, told that “we take on too many battles across too many fronts with too many competitors.”

Uber has already merged a good number of its businesses outside its core markets including the deal with Grab in Southeast Asia, Yandex NV in Russia, and China.

The comment of Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi while talking about its presence in India, Africa, and the Middle East in May stated:

“We are going to be, I believe, the winning player in those markets and we’re going to control our own destiny.”

Well, it seems an indication that Uber no longer wants another consolidation. However, the rumors are doing opposite to it. So let’s wait together to find out what happen next? Maybe we get famous merger like Jazz and Warid.